


You Told Me to Hold On

by Takara_Phoenix



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: Accidental Confession, Banter, Bonding, Canon Divergent, Fluff, M/M, Nicercy - Freeform, Nico and Percy Fall into Tartarus, Pining, Slash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-07
Updated: 2020-10-07
Packaged: 2021-03-07 22:54:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,044
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26875498
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Takara_Phoenix/pseuds/Takara_Phoenix
Summary: Nico and Percy fell into Tartarus together. Nico is mad that Percy didn't let go of him and decided to fall into Tartarus with Nico. Percy doesn't really understand why.
Relationships: Nico di Angelo/Percy Jackson
Comments: 30
Kudos: 741





	You Told Me to Hold On

PJatO || Nicercy || PJatO || Nicercy || You Told Me to Hold On || Nicercy || PJatO || Nicercy || PJatO

Title: You Told Me to Hold On – Nico and Percy in Tartarus

Fandom: Percy Jackson and the Olympians / Heroes of Olympus

Disclaimer: All rights reserved to Rick Riordan. Aside from the Gods, they belong to the old Greeks. This fanfiction and its OCs on the other hand are entirely mine. No money is made with this, though reviews are more than welcomed.

Tags: m/m, pining, bonding, banter, fluff

Main Pairing: Nico/Percy

Percy Jackson Characters: Perseus Jackson, Nico di Angelo, Small Bob

Summary: Nico and Percy fell into Tartarus together. Nico is mad that Percy didn't let go of him and decided to fall into Tartarus _with_ Nico. Percy doesn't really understand why.

**You Told Me to Hold On**

_Nico and Percy in Tartarus_

"You told me to hold on! Why are you mad at me about it now?"

Percy screamed, throwing his hands up in the air as he turned around to face the angry Italian behind him. Walking backward, Percy maintained irritated eye-contact with Nico, who glared back.

"I told you to hold on, Jackson, yes", growled Nico, arms crossed over his chest. " _Onto the ledge_. You were supposed to keep holding onto the ledge _and let go of me_. Idiota."

At those words, Percy stumbled a bit, looking startled. "What? Are you actually stupid?"

"Excuse you?", asked Nico sharply.

"You. Stupid", repeated Percy, motioning at Nico. "Why in the world would I just... drop you into literal hell? You really thought I'd just... save my own skin and let you fall?"

"I've been here before. I had no problems getting out of here the last time. I would have been fine."

Percy started walking toward Nico now and stopped right in front of him, startling Nico as he reached out to gently trace the dark bags beneath Nico's eyes. By far not as bad as they had been, but they were still as dark as though he hadn't slept in a month.

"You weren't _fine_. You went through hell. Literally", huffed Percy softly. "I didn't... I couldn't let you go through that again. I thought I could save you. But... at least I won't let you go through it alone, Nico." Percy paused and his tone got lighter. "Besides, it'll give us _plenty_ of time to talk. Like, about how you pretended not to know me in New Rome. Those fun things."

Nico huffed and backed off from Percy, leading the way. He knew where they had to go, after their little trip into terrifying curses that made one drown. Nico hadn't missed that. He glared, hands in his pockets, as he stalked ahead, Percy hot on his heels.

The spider-webs had not been stable. Nico had seen it break and had rushed to push Percy out of the way – well, Percy and Annabeth. He had knocked Annabeth enough off-course, but Percy... Percy and Nico, they had broken through, Percy holding onto the ledge with one hand and onto Nico with the other and Nico, he had told Percy to hold on. Onto the ledge. Not him. But... Percy had to be Percy, he had to do the heroic, stupid, dumb, reckless thing. Stupid Percy.

/break\

Stupid Percy looked cute when he was sleeping. Nico glared intensely at the sleeping son of Poseidon. They had walked for hours, before they decided to rest. A luxury that Nico hadn't been able to allow himself the last time around, because he was... alone. Now he wasn't. Him and Percy had been traveling together, fighting the monsters they had encountered together. And now, Percy was sleeping, at Nico's feet, while Nico held watch. Three hours and he was supposed to wake Percy up so they could change shifts. So he could sleep. Nico didn't care about sleep. He cared about getting Percy out of here as fast as possible, before Tartarus could seriously hurt Percy.

"Why are you like this?", whispered Nico desperately, gently brushing Percy's hair out of his face.

And wasn't that the big question? Why was Percy like this? Reckless. Heroic. Stupidly pretty. Gods, he was _so pretty_. With the pink lips and the lashes painting long shadows on his cheeks, the messy, long, black hair – living on the streets hadn't necessarily come with a hairdresser. He was curled together, legs drawn up against his chest, arm folded under his head.

"Percy. Jackson. Sea brat. Bane of my existence."

"Keep the cute pet-names going", yawned Percy as he rolled over. "I like em."

He grinned teasingly at Nico as he stretched out long, shirt riling up. Nico blushed at the comment about pet-names and about the sliver of six-pack being revealed. This trip was going to kill him.

"Come on. We have to continue", grunted Nico annoyed. "I... have a friend here, he can help."

"A friend? You... You didn't even make friends at camp, how did you make friends in _Tartarus_?"

Percy stared at him disturbed as he sat up, prompting Nico to roll his eyes. "Bob. You remember? The Titan Iapetus whom you memory-wiped. He's been the janitor of the underworld. He... helped me. But first we should check out the temple of Hermes for food."

"Why does... No, never mind, too tired and exhausted", sighed Percy. "Wait. Your turn to sleep."

"I'll sleep when we reach the temple", huffed Nico defensively.

"You're so _stubborn_ ", groaned Percy frustrated.

Nico barked out a laugh at that. " _You_ calling anyone else stubborn sure is something."

"What can I say. I found my match in you, Grumpy-Pants", stated Percy simply.

Why was Percy like this? It was _killing_ Nico. This – This _banter_. The quips. The things Percy said. How was he supposed to keep his feelings bottled up if Percy was like this...?

/break\

Seeing Percy play with a large skeletal saber-tooth tiger was... strange. It did strange things with Nico's head and heart. The same way seeing Percy with Mrs. O'Leary did. He knew what it was. Seeing Percy be soft and gentle with the monsters of the underworld...

"I can't believe you kept in contact with Bob all this time", whispered Percy as he returned.

Small Bob was brushing his head against Percy's hand, circling him for attention. Nico could relate to the large beast. He too had been circling Percy for attention for a while.

"I lived in the underworld", reminded Nico softly, reaching out for Small Bob.

"Of course. I just... Actually, I think... it's more that I can't believe I didn't... I kind of... I didn't _forget_ about him, but...", started Percy, furrowing his brows as he sat down next to Nico. "It's been... over a year now. It was in December, wasn't it? So. A year before I got... you know..."

"Abducted by a vengeful, nasty goddess", offered Nico dryly.

"Yeah, that", nodded Percy. "And I know I've had a lot on my mind, but-"

"No", interrupted Nico with a frown. "No but. You were in the middle of the war. And _you_ were actually literally in the middle of it all. Then you lost Beckendorf, and I know what he meant to you, and the war ended and... I know it... I know what it did to you."

"I'm fine. Didn't even lose a limb", argued Percy.

"Not... physically", whispered Nico softly. "It hurt you. You had the safety of the world on your mind. And I understand that you feel guilty, because that's _you_... But you saved the world. You can't be expected to personally save every single soul you encounter. That is not your responsibility."

When Percy looked up, he had a crooked smile on his lips. "Damasen said we should rest, before we continue on our way. Time to sleep, Ghost King. Even _you_ need it."

Nico wanted to argue, but couldn't. He was being pulled down along with Percy and suddenly his heart was racing, because he was _so close_ to Percy. The son of Poseidon was grinning at him.

"You... don't mind, right? It's kind of cold and we do not have blankets. Body heat sharing is effective. Grover, Annabeth and I did it when we were on our first quest too, you know."

All Nico could muster was an awkward shake of his head. He may just die of heart-failure tonight, but it may be a worthy death, caused by close proximity to Percy Jackson. Truly worthy.

/break\

Nico had been doing good at hiding his feelings. For years, he had run away from Percy, actively run. And now, down here, he was doing good at keeping it bottled up too. And then they faced Achelys. Seeing Percy stand there, tall and proud, controlling the poison, _controlling the goddess_...

"I know you're strong. Of course you are. But... sometimes, with the... puns and quips and cuddling hell-hounds like they're puppy-dogs, I... forget just how overwhelmingly powerful you are."

Nico swallowed hard as he stared at Percy. Percy, wiping sweaty hair out of his face, his biceps flexing as he did so. Nico stared at him in trance, completely hypnotized by the power he radiated.

"And... it... scares you?", asked Percy in a nearly small voice as he looked at him doubtfully.

"It makes me _horny_ ", blurted Nico out, brain still focused on Percy's biceps.

When his words caught up with him, he stared – wide-eyed and mortified. Had he really just said that? Was this how his sleep-deprived, horny teenage brain had decided to tell Percy? _This_? Percy stared at him, slowly, blinking a couple of times. More blinking. Some blushing. Lot more blinking.

"H... H... What?", asked Percy stunned. "Uh. I didn't know you were... or that you liked... _me_? Do you? Like me? Or just, you know, attracted to me. Because I was attracted to Clarisse for a while and that did _not_ mean I liked her. Now, Luke, that was... different, like Rachel-"

"Did you just say Luke? He was a boy", interrupted Nico, stumbling a bit.

"Huh. Uh. Yeah. I uh. I like girls and boys. I kind of thought everyone knew that. I should have told you, personally, then you would have felt comfortable to come out to me too, right? If you wanted to, I mean. But can we circle back to if you like me or just, you know-"

"I like you. L... Love you. I love you. There, I said it. Can we move on? Both, from this topic as well as from Tartarus. We have to get out of here, and fast. Damasen and Bob are waiting."

"No. I mean, yeah, we totally do have to get out of here, but don't change the topic."

Percy huffed and grabbed Nico by the arm, stopping him from leaving. They stood close. Very close. Percy's eyes were even prettier this up close. Gulping, Nico tried to escape their intensity.

"I... like you too", admitted Percy in a soft voice, cheeks flushed. "I mean, I dunno about _love_. But I've liked you for a while. A guy can only platonically chase another guy all throughout the world for a certain amount of time, you know. At one point, it becomes kinda more."

"...Wha... What?", grunted Nico slowly. "What?"

Rolling his eyes, Percy leaned in and pecked Nico's cheek. "I like you too. Go on a date with me when we get out of Tartarus. But for now, let's get out of Tartarus, okay?"

Nico nodded awkwardly as they rushed to catch up with Damasen and Bob. Nico knew how they _all_ were going to get out of here – he had escaped all on his own the last time too, after all. The five of them were going to make it together. And then he was... going on a... date? With Percy?

"Also we will have to talk about you getting turned on by me fighting gods", chimed Percy teasingly. "I mean, I _do_ that very regularly, but still..."

He grinned at Nico. Adorable. That grin made Nico's heart skip a beat, so did the teasing. Percy grabbed his hand as they ran together toward the exit, Nico smiling tentatively at Percy.

_~*~ The End ~*~_

**Author's Note:**

> This story is brought to you by me playing a "give me a fic title and I pitch a fic for it" on tumblr (come follow me at [takaraphoenix](https://takaraphoenix.tumblr.com/) for pitches, early fic previews and games!) and that somehow turning into "Nico would totally be turned on by Percy controlling a goddess", which he would.


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